Sunday, June 12, 2011

Doctor drove for three miles with body on roof of van

After fatally striking a lawn mowing contractor, the driver of a van continued on for another three miles with the body on the roof of his vehicle in Wichita, Kansas. The victim, an unnamed 32-year-old man, was working with a weed-eater when he was struck at about 7:15am. The force of the impact threw the victim onto the windshield and then the roof of a Toyota Sienna XLE.

But the motorist, a 67-year-old doctor, did not stop. Witnesses who saw the minivan driving with the victim on the roof called 911. Someone followed the minivan to a house. The house is about three miles from where the minivan hit the worker. One neighbour said he saw a vehicle pulling into the driveway "pretty quickly" with what looked like a person on top.

For a time on Friday, police blocked off the street in front of the house, and crime scene tape surrounded the driveway where the grey-and-tan minivan still sat. While officers investigated and documented the scene, the victim's body remained atop the minivan, covered with a blanket. Later the body was removed.

The minivan had damage on the driver's side front bumper and headlight assembly. The hood was caved in. The windshield was smashed in, broken through in at least one place and densely cracked. The driver, named as Mohammad Sarrafizadeh, was booked into jail on a charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, but was later released after paying a bond.